A Summer of Rest

This summer of 2016 has been such a blessing for us. We started out with the express goal of using these few summer months to recover, to rest, and to prepare ourselves for what lies ahead. While we wish we could have a few additional months of life at this pace, I think this time has been a success.

This is the first summer in years in which Matt has not had any undergraduate teaching responsibilities. It’s also one of the only summers in years in which we have not traveled to New York to visit our extended family there. We’ve said yes to some requests and invitations, but we’ve said no to many other opportunities – many of them good ones – and making all of those decisions has been hard.

However, the things to which we’ve been able to say “yes” instead have made it all worth it. I’ve had multiple one-on-one outings with each of my girls.

It’s so fun to see their different personalities come out in their own ways when I get to spend time with them individually!

Matt has also been able to spend a couple days a week focusing on time with the kids, which has been a blessing for them and for him. They do school together, take trips to the library, make art, and have all sorts of other fun experiences.

That has given me large blocks of time to do adoption paperwork, put in some extra work hours, and work on some household cleaning and re-organization. It’s been such a blessing to feel like there’s real space for those things to happen, instead of trying to work them into my schedule in bits and pieces while the kids are playing happily for 5 minutes at a time or after they go to bed.

I’ve also been able to take more time to read, one of my greatest pleasures! I’m currently making my way through J.I. Packer’s Knowing God, Brother Lawrence’s The Practice of the Presence of God, and Sally Clarkson’s Own Your Life. On top of that, I’ve been working out 2-3 times per week. I’ve been researching and learning about osteogenesis imperfecta and how we can be the best parents possible for our next little one. And Matt and I have been re-reading the Harry Potter series together and greatly enjoying that.

Matt has also been able to use the summer well. He has finished up cardiac rehab and transitioned to regular workouts at a local gym. He’s been able to write and to paint. He’s enjoying lunch dates with friends. And he’s generally appreciating having more space and time to think.

And in my regular days with our kids, it feels like we have a good rhythm that has allowed us to continue doing schoolwork but also have a lot of fun. We do park dates and pool time.

We celebrate adoption milestones.

Overall, it has been so good to re-evaluate our priorities and really focus on what is most important. I’m a child of God, a wife, and a mom, and everything else comes after those roles. There will be other years for travel, other times for saying yes to great opportunities for serving and for living. But for this summer, time for rest was exactly what we needed, and I have every confidence that these times are going to set us up well for the year to come!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment

Name *

Email *

Website

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Meet Alison

I'm Alison, wife to one great guy and mama to four precious kiddos. My days are spent loving and caring for those 5 and anyone else God brings into my path, and as I read books and explain math, wipe noses and change diapers, teach and pray, correct and celebrate, I also contemplate and share my thoughts in this space. I'm so honored that you're here!